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Participate in a Research Study

Research study participant

A variety of research studies are conducted by faculty, research fellows, graduate students, and undergraduates in Psychological Sciences at Vanderbilt. This research includes a wide range of laboratory experiments and brain imaging studies on fundamental aspects of perception, cognition, and emotion. A lot of this important research would not be possible without the participation of research volunteers.

In order to help interested research volunteers enroll in research studies in Psychological Science for course credit and for pay, we utilize a web-based research sign-up system called Sona Systems. After you register yourself as a new user and your account is set up and approved you will be able to view brief descriptions of studies in order to select which studies you would like to participate in. The initial registration form and subsequent prescreening, will take about 5-10 minutes for you to complete.

Paid Subjects: Click here for information regarding participation in paid studies.

Subjects Receiving Course Credit: All students who intend to sign up for studies in order to receive course credit (for General Psychology or for credit in other Psychology courses) should read the Sona Student Manual before setting up an account.

The Research Sign-up System:  Connect to the Research Sign-up System (Sona Systems).

  • Watch tutorial here.

Getting Research Experience:  If you are interested in working in a lab as a researcher in Psychological Sciences, visit [this page] .

A number of the studies are conducted in Wilson Hall. There are two reserved parking spaces for research participants at the end of the parking lot behind Wilson Hall. Please see your research contact for the parking pass.

wilson map

Other studies are conducted in Jesup or Hobbs:

jesup map

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development maintains a separate webpage which includes studies for adults, children and families, and includes a number of studies related to developmental disorders and psychiatric disorders. 

Researchers:

  • Click here for Sona Researcher Manual.
  • Click here for RCR training requirements & information.
  • Click here for IRB / HSR training requirements & information.